Former footballer Gerard Pique is watching the match. Photo: REUTERS
SAU PAULO:
The Kings League, founded by Gerard Pique, is planning a US launch in 2026, but its rapid expansion will not stop there as it expects to enter more global markets and potentially license the format, the former Spain and Barcelona player told Reuters.
The seven-man league created by Pique in 2022 combines football with video game capabilities along with shorter matches, customized rules, intense crowd interaction and social media personalities as central figures in its teams and events.
It quickly expanded from Spain to Italy, Germany, France, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Brazil, where it is hosting its version of the World Cup this month. The priority now, Pique said, is consolidating the audience base while opening new markets.
While it is expected to launch this year in the United States, the former defender said the league will tread carefully in a country where soccer is not the dominant sport.
“There will be different challenges and that’s why we want to take our time to think very carefully about the best way to do it,” he said in an interview in Sao Paulo on Friday.
Kings League CEO Djamel Agaoua noted that the U.S. version will likely require a greater entertainment element on top of the league’s core product.
“It’s not just the fact that soccer is probably the number four or five sport in the country, it’s also the pinnacle of sports entertainment culture,” Agaoua said. “We probably need to invest a little more in it.”
Beyond the US, Pique reported strong interest from the Netherlands, Portugal, Turkey, South Korea and Japan as well as several South American markets such as Argentina, Chile and Colombia.
Future expansion could include licensing the format.
“There are so many countries right now that we want to bring the product to and we have to find a way. We can’t manage 30, 40 leagues because it would be a nightmare for us as a company. So the idea might be to try to license the product,” he said.
The Kings World Cup Nations is expected to attract around 40,000 fans to Saturday’s final between Brazil and Chile at Sao Paulo’s Allianz Parque stadium.
The league is also exploring the possibility of eventually expanding to other sports. Agawa cited basketball, tennis, and fighting as possible examples. “There are many activities where our recipe could work,” he said.
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